Deer/Antelope and the 7mm 120gr. Nosler BT

[stevenashe]

Climbing the slope at 7:00 A.M. to glass for deer, the sun's rays were creating a molten orange line on the horizon to my left. All along the crest of the hill, bushes jutted their branches into the pale blue morning sky. This 19th of Oct. was my 5th day of hunting. Unlike years past, in this area, I had not seen many bucks, but a lot of doe, so I knew that if I hunted hard enough, the buck would be there for me. One grouping of branches on the horizon looked too balanced and I raised my binoculars to see a buck's antlers and his eyes, just above the cover. From much practice, the rifle came up and bucked against my shoulder and I saw the antlers fall.
The paced off range was a scant 85 yards, but I had a small target at which to aim. The 7mm 120gr. Nosler BT entered just under the buck's lower jaw and exited the back of his neck. The buck had fairly good mass, but a strange 2x4 antler. I had killed better on this ranch in years past, but being on my 5th day of hunting with one more day to go, I was happy with this year's kill.
Both my two animals were taken with the same bullet. While I was using a Browning Stalker in 280Rem, wife Storm, was using a Howa in 7mm-08. I had loaded mine up to 3150 fps, while I had Storm's rifle kicking out bullets at 3028 fps. Both of us were totally happy with the 120 BT performance.
I am on the road, heading back to FL., so in three days, I will complete this report and add photos.
Best,
Steven L. Ashe

 

[DrMike]

Steven,

Congratulations. From Guy's report, we knew you had success. That is just great. Congratulations to both you and Storm. Your full report should be very interesting, and it will assuredly be welcomed.

 

[Guy Miner]

Steven - congrats again to both you and Storm! It was a good hunt. And now I've got a couple of good new friends too.

None of us was shooting a cannon, just a .25-06, a 7mm-08 and your .280 Rem. All of which were excellent choices for the game: mule deer & pronghorn.

I think everyone is going to be impressed with the performance of the 120 gr bullet from the .280 and the 7mm-08. I sure am!

Regards, Guy

 

[stevenashe]

Thanks for the kind words. Regardless of other reports regarding Guy, I still like him! <8^))
Here's the second short report:
Until three years ago, wife Storm had not fired anything save for a BB gun. I worked her at the range, firing .22cal., .223 AR and then into a .243Win. Handi-Rifle. She killed her first deer, a doe, last year. I then bought her a Howa w/youth stock, which fit her very well. Her Howa is in 7mm-08, topped with a Burris 3-9x40 scope. She never did object to the recoil, so I loaded the 120gr. Nosler BT up to 3028fps at 10 feet from the muzzle and over the past 10 months, she has put more than 200 rounds through the rifle, shooting at ranges of 50 yards, to 300 yards, from various shooting positions. By then, she was hot to get to Wyoming and hunt her mule deer buck. On the second day of the hunt, Oct. 16, at around 8:00 A.M. she and her guide spotted one buck and seven doe at 180 yards. She had her scope hitting right on at 200. Plus, she was shooting off of a high bluff, down and across Little Powder River, so there would be no drop. Her shot took out both of the buck's lungs and he staggered after the six doe and disappeared into heavy brush. The guide climbed down to search, while Storm sat, legs over the bluff, ready for a follow-up coup de grace shot.The buck, however, was already grave-yard dead, not 20 paces from where he was hit. Again, the 120gr. Nosler BT went through and through, leaving a large exit wound, which helped to cause massive bleeding and trauma. We are very pleased with this bullet's performance.
The buck was around 190 lbs. dressed and the guide hurt his back loading, even with 5' 2" Storm assisting! Later, I convinced the 65 year old rancher/guide to use an electric winch and ramp to load these deer, as he like me is not getting any younger. He spent the balance of the hunt on pain killers, but hunted hard with us.
Storm, of course was ecstatic about her first buck, a nice 5x5 with very balanced rack. We got some photos, hung the buck on the game pole and went after her pronghorn.
More to follow,
Steven

 

[FOTIS]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum!

 

[DrMike]

Yeah, whatever happened to roysclockgun? Did he disappear into the western ether? Mule deer will do that to a person. Great account, Steven. Again, congratulations to Storm. She did very well indeed!

 

[JD338]

Steven,

Congratulations to you as well as Storm and Guy on your successful hunt.

JD338

 

[stevenashe]

Hey group, I only posted from that email address because I could not sign in on the motel computer for some reason.
Will post photos under my old roysclockgun account.
Steven

 

[JD338]

Steven,

Looking forward to the rest of the story, along with some photos.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

Hey group, I only posted from that email address because I could not sign in on the motel computer for some reason.
Will post photos under my old roysclockgun account.
Steven

And here I thought you had been abducted by aliens and transmogrified into someone new! :shock: I'm certain that rest of the story will be good. Looking forward to your report.

 

[Guy Miner]

Steven - it's interesting that the .25-06 is thought of as a high velocity cartridge - but your .280 Rem/120 gr loads actually developed higher velocity than my .25-06 with 115 gr Ballistic Tips at 3120 fps.

Worth thinking about... All of us were using relatively light, high velocity bullets - and they performed superbly on mule deer and pronghorn. As expected!

Guy

 

[stevenashe]

Yeah Guy, I agree. Someone here told me that the basic bullet for my Nosler 120gr. BT is the same as the Nosler 140gr. BT, in terms of the base which holds together. Therefore, more MV attainable with same penetration. Even my frontal shot to the throat at 85 yds., on my muley buck, had a dime sized exit wound to the back of the neck! That is great performance.
Storm's bullet broke ribs on both sides and had a golf ball sized exit wound.
I am sticking with the 7mm Nosler 120gr. BT for all our hunting, as we are not going after Griz anyway! <8^) Storm loves her Howa rifle with youth stock and I will keep my Browning Stainless Stalker.
Steven

 

[SJB358]

Great report buddy. Sounds like it worked excellent..

 

[Guy Miner]

Scotty - I was really impressed with how well both the Ballistic Tips in both 7mm & .257" performed. Accurate, and lethal as all get out.

I believe all bullets exited too, not that we were hunting moose or grizzly or T-Rex... :grin:

Much evidence, accuracy and on-game performance, to show that these bullets are just about perfect for deer sized game.

Guy

 

[SJB358]

I'm running about the same load as you in Lori's 25-06. Looking forward to seeing how it shoots at longer range and how the same weight PTs shoot out of it. I can see it being very nice in the deer woods. Plus, it is such a baby off the bench. Should be a lot of fun to stretch it out and teach Lori some Longer range shooting.

 

[FOTIS]

I have shot a few antelope with my 264 sendero and 120 BT's at over 3400 fps. All exited.

 

[SJB358]

I have shot a few antelope with my 264 sendero and 120 BT's at over 3400 fps. All exited.

That is a screamer of a load. What powder Fotis? Never shot anything lighter than 125 PT's.

 

[onesonek]

Nice, and welcome to the forum!